Game instruction apparatus



June 30, 1953 Raenor-1ER GAME INSTRUCTION APPARATUS Filed April 19, 1950 NNI Patented June 30, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFlcE GAME INSTRUCTION APPARATUS Rudolph S. Bucher, Upper Darby, Pa. Application April 19, 195o, serial'No. 156,854

L 3 Claims. 1

This invention relates to instruction or demonstration devices for use in connection primarily with football, basketball and other eld or court games, and a principal object of the invention is toy provide a generally improved device of this class affording visual demonstration and analysis of plays, formations and the like.

A more specic object of the invention is to provide a device yof this class adapted for outdoor as well as indoor use and preferably of mobile form permitting ready transfer from one desired position to another.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device of the stated character comprising relatively movable elements representing individual players freely movable on a surface representing the playing field or court, said elements being of special construction, as hereinafter set forth, and including means for facilitating movement of the elements and for simultaneously marking on the iield surface the course taken in such movement.

The invention resides also in certain no-vel and useful structural details hereinafter described and illustrated in the attached drawings where- Fig. 1 is a face View of an instruction unit made in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional View on the line 2-2, Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a View in perspective of one of the player indicator elements; 1

Fig. 4 is a view in perspective of one of the parts of the player element shown in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5 5, Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a View in perspective of a modified form of marker; n

Fig. 7 is a view in perspective of still another form of marker, and

Fig. 8 is a sectional view on the lineI 8 2, Fig. 6.

With reference to the drawings, the device, in a preferred form, comprises a pipe frame I of substantially rectangular form having side uprights 2 and 3, a top cross bar 4, and a lower cross bar 5. Each of the side uprights 2 and 3 has at the bottom thereof a transverse base member 6, see Fig. 2, which is braced by struts 'l and 8 and in which are installed suitable caster or wheel elements 9 and III. The pipe frame as a whole is supported upon the four wheels, two at each end of the frame.

Supported in the frame within the space between the cross bars 4 and 5 is a board I I. This board is composed in the present instance of a sheet I2 of ferrous metal, preferablysteel, which is mounted in a frame I3, This frame has a pair of lugs I4 and I5 at the top edge, and corresponding lugs I6 and I1 at the lower edge, to which are secured straps I8, I 9, 20 and 2|, respectively, which embrace the cross bars 4 and 5, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and support the board I2 in the frame. Preferably, the steel or other ferrous metal sheet I2 is treated so as to render it substantially free fromv oxidation and to afford a surface suitable for receiving markings of a character produced by crayon, chalk or other suitable marking medium. If desired, the metallic board may be coated with a suitable protective coating having the marking properties mentioned above.

In the present instance, one face of the board II is marked oi, see Fig'. 1, to represent a football fleld, and the opposite side may be suitably marked to represent the playing eld or court for another sport, such for example, as basketball, baseball, lacrosse, hockey or soccer; or, if preferred, one side of the board may be left entirely unmarked.

In conjunction with the structure described above, I provide a plurality of markers 22 of the form illustrated in Figs. 3, l and 5. Each of these markers comprises a permanent magnet 23, which, for example, may be of the generally cylindrical form illustrated in Fig. 4, with the cylindrical body of the magnet slotted at 24 to define the poles 25 and 26, and with the terminal ends 21 and'28 of these poles lying in a common plane. This magnet is secured within a cylindrical recessin an envelope 29 which may be made of plastic or other suitable material, and this envelope 29 has a lug 30 projecting transversely from the side thereof, as bestr shown in Figs. 3 and 5, the lug 30 having an aperture 3| which functions for a purpose described below.

In the use of the apparatus, the markers are placed with the poles of the magnets against the surface of the plate I2 which thereby acts as an armature to hold the magnets and hence the markers firmly in place as illustrated in Fig. 5. For football twenty-two such markers will norm-ally be employed, eleven for each of the opposing teams, and the markers of one team may be distinguished by color from the markers representing the opposing team. The markers of each team may bear on their top surfaces different numbers from one to eleven, see Fig. 1, and these numbers may be identified with particular playing positions; or the markers may 'bear letters indicating playing position, such for example as L. E., see Fig. 6, indicating left end. It will be apparent that each marker, by reason of the magnetic attraction, will maintain any position in which it may be placed or to which it may be moved upon the playing eld. Each of the markers may be readily moved from place to place on the field by means of the lug 39, the aperture 3| being adapted to receive the marking end of a crayon or pencil 32 which may then be used, as illustrated in broken lines in Fig. 5, both to move the marker from one point to another on the field and to simultaneously mark `upon the field a line corresponding to path of movement. A tray 33 may be provided in the frame, at the top, for example, of cross bar 5, see Figs. l and 2, for holding erasers, extra crayon, spare markers and other adjuncts.

`The manner in which the device may be used for instruction or demonstration purposes will be apparent. The teams are initially lined up in the opposed formations preparatory to play, and the play itself may then be developed by moving the markers in the respective theoretical paths and by simultaneously marking the paths on the playing surface. The lugs 30 may be used to indicate the direction in which each of the players is facing at any given moment. The resulting visual analysis alfords a highly effective medium for instruction. The playing board being upright and elevated is visible from relatively remote points and may be viewed readily by large groups of individuals; and the entire structure, being substantially immune to Weather damage, may be used and stored in the open Without material deterioration. Obviously, the markers may be moved by means other than a crayon where marking of the path of travel is not desired.

It may be found expedient at times to emn ploy an extra marker representing the ball, and in order that the ball may be identified with an individual marker representing, for example, a ball carrier or pass receiver, marker of the form shown in Fig. 6 may be utilized. In this case the magnet 34 is of rectangular form with beveled edges 40, 4D for eng-agement in a dovetailed pocket in a retainer 4l at the underside of a lozenge shaped cap 35. The cap 35 and retainer 4| may be made of plastic `and be ce mented together. The cap 35 has a dovetailed recess in the top in Which is set a strip 36 of ferrous metal `with its upper surface ilush with the upper surface of the cap. The cap contains an aperture 39 for a crayon or pencil, as previously set forth, and carries identifying letters at the opposite side of the strip 36 as previously described.

Cil

The marker 4I representing the ball may consist of a simple plastic plate, see Fig. 7, having a dovetailed recess for reception of flat magnet 42 capable of adhering magnetically to the strip 35 if placed on the top of the cap 35 of one or other of the player markers of the form shown in Fig. 6. The two markers will then be united by magnetic attraction so that in effect the one representing the ball will ride the other and will thereby indicate the carrier or receiver as stated above.

While the device is Well adaptedV for game analysis and instruction, as described above, it may nnd useful application in other elds such, for example, as for visual demonstration of military, naval or air maneuvers and tactics using markers of appropriate form. In any of its uses it is well adapted for televised transmission.

I claim:

1. For use in game instruction apparatus of a type comprising a flat metallic body member having a surface representing a play area, and a plurality of magnetic markers slidably adjustable and magnetically retainable in adjusted positions on saidsurfaceiand representing individual players, a magnetic marker comprising a magnetic core, and a non-metallic envelope embracing the said core and including a projecting lug having an aperture, and a combined actuating and marking element insertable through said aperture and operative manually to move the marker in the play area and to simultaneously mark the path of movement on said surface.

2. A magnetic marker according to claim 1 including an element of ferrous metal secured to the said non-metallic envelope and exposed at the upper surface of said envelope.

3. A magnetic marker according to claim 2 ine cluding an individual second marker having magnetic properties `and adapted to be superimposed upon the marker first named in operative contact with said ferrous element so as to be held thereon by said magnetic properties.

RUDOLPH S. BCHER.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,605,703 Brown Nov. 2, 1926 1,927,695 Andreas Sept. 19, 1933 2,158,368 Hurt May 16, 1939 2,254,810 Will Sept. 2, 1941 2,330,951 Burmester et al Oct. 5, 1943 

